CHRIS HEMSWORTH

In less than four years, Hemsworth, 29, went from Aussie soap star to Norse god, fabled Huntsman and, next up, leader of a guerrilla-style resistance group in the remake of Red Dawn. With the rise came working alongside today's hottest actresses – including Natalie Portman and Charlize Theron – but it's Hemsworth's Thor director Kenneth Branagh who best summed up the rugged star's appeal to Out magazine: "[Chris] is built like a concrete shipyard and looks very fetching with his shirt off."